napalm

[ ney-pahm ]

noun

1. a highly incendiary jellylike substance used in fire bombs, flamethrowers, etc.

verb (used with object)

1. to drop bombs containing napalm on (troops, a city, or the like).

napalm

/ ˈneɪpɑːm; ˈnæ- /

noun

1. a thick and highly incendiary liquid, usually consisting of petrol gelled with aluminium soaps, used in firebombs, flame-throwers, etc

verb

1. tr to attack with napalm

napalm

/ nā′päm′ /

1. A firm jelly made by mixing gasoline with aluminum salts (made of fatty acids). It is used in some bombs and in flamethrowers. Napalm was developed during World War II.

Word History and Origins

Origin of napalm¹

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; na(phthene) + palm(itate)

Word History and Origins

Origin of napalm¹

C20: from na ( phthene ) + palm ( itate )

Example Sentences

According to the indictment, Allison and Humber worked together with others to create, edit and disseminate a digital publication known as “The Hard Reset,” which provided instructions for making bombs and explosives, including napalm, thermite, chlorine gas, pipe bombs and dirty bombs.

From Los Angeles Times

The Teaching Assistants’ Assn. at University of Wisconsin-Madison, which grew out of the anti-draft sit-in and campus demonstrations against Dow Chemical for its role in production of napalm and other weapons for the Vietnam War, is the oldest still-existing graduate union in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

But he had gone to Vietnam three times, and in campaign appearances he vividly portrayed the war’s “cruelty and futility,” as he put it, evoking cluster bombs that killed or maimed anyone within 25 acres, and napalm strikes that burned all within 150 feet at 2,000 degrees.

From New York Times

There are a handful of similar characters: Claude, a CIA agent backing South Vietnam; The Congressman, an anti-communist Republican nicknamed “Napalm Ned” who fought with the South Vietnamese army; and Professor Hammer, who heads the Department of Oriental Studies at Occidental College and fetishizes Asian culture.

From Los Angeles Times

Naturally, he blamed President Biden: “The Biden administration has been dumping gasoline on his inflation fire. This would be napalm.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• attack
• blast
• blow up
• bombard
• destroy
• raid
• strafe
• wipe out